Government school blown up in South Waziristan

WANA: Militants blew up part of a newly constructed government school in South Waziristan late Friday night, a spokesperson for a wing of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said on Saturday, the latest in a string of attacks on educational institutions.

No one was hurt in the blast in Pakistan’s restive tribal belt, but 18 labourers working on the site were abducted, said Azam Tariq, a spokesperson for an arm of the TTP known as the “Sajna” group, which claimed responsibility for the attack.

He said the workers were released a short time later.

“We have blown up the school because it was a government installation,” said Tariq, warning the group would continue to attack government targets.

Officials in South Waziristan said the girls’ wing of the school in the Tehsil Tiarza area was damaged in Friday’s blast, as well as some heavy machinery being used for ongoing construction at the site.